1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medical and pediatric nutrition devices and methods, and more particularly relates to devices and methods for expression and collection of human breast milk.
Breast pumps are commonly used to collect breast milk in order to allow mothers to continue breastfeeding while apart from their children. In order to understand their milk production and ensure that the production is maintained at a sufficient level, mothers often keep records of their pumping sessions manually, for example in journals or spreadsheets. Manual record keeping can be cumbersome and prone to inaccuracies or lapses in record-keeping.
It would be desirable to provide a way for mothers to automatically keep track of their milk production and the consumption of milk by their infants. It would be further desirable for the means to quantify breast milk production to be adaptable for use with various types of breast pumps. Automatic milk production quantification and inventory tracking via communication with mobile devices are further desirable for enhanced user convenience.
At least some of these objectives will be satisfied by the devices and methods disclosed below.
2. Description of the Background Art
The following U.S. patents are related to expression and collection of human breast milk: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,673,036; 6,749,582; 6,840,918; 6,887,210; 7,875,000; 8,118,772; and 8,216,179.